Things have been downright bad in Denver so far this season; much worse than the Nuggets’ 3-3 record would indicate. The bench play and three-point shooting have been particularly abysmal, but things have been pretty bad across the board.
Jamal Murray doesn’t look like the star player he was signed to be. Aarong Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. have been better in recent games, but still not good enough overall. Christian Braun has been a revelation in the starting lineup and that is one of the few bright spots.
But to nobody's surprise, the biggest bright spot by far is Nikola Jokic. After winning three MVP Awards in four years, it was hard to imagine the Joker taking on even more responsibility, but through six games, that has been the case.
The team simply can’t afford to rest him right now, as they look like a lottery team whenever the big Serbian superstar rests. It’s not a sustainable long-term model for the Nuggets; they need to keep Jokic fresh throughout the season and make sure he is 100% when the playoffs begin - otherwise, this team has no shot.
Jokic makes NBA history yet again
So far though, Jokic has been more than up to the task. In fact, even before the last game, Jokic had put up 152 points, 58 rebounds, and 50 assists through the team’s first five games. That made Jokic the first player in NBA history to record 150+/50+/50+ in a team’s first five games of a season.
This goes to show just how incredible Jokic has been to start the season. Whenever we think we’ve seen the best of him, he turns around and raises his game to another level. But it’s also disappointing to see how badly the team needs this.
Even with this incredible play, the Nuggets are lucky to be a 3-3 team and have gotten their wins against the NBA’s bottom-feeders. It’s sad that the team isn’t able to provide more support for the Joker. That he has to work this hard just to maintain a .500 team is extremely concerning.
I say it can’t go on all season, and it probably can’t. But I’m also not crazy enough to bet against Jokic. If anyone can keep this up, it’s him. The problem is that, for him to exert that much energy, means there’s no way the team is going to be coming into the playoffs fresh and ready for the challenge that awaits.